Church BBQ-related illness reports triple

Reported salmonella cases connected to a recent local church barbecue fundraiser have tripled, according to health officials.

By Jessica Pickens/Halifax Media Services

Published: Friday, September 20, 2013 at 08:46 AM.

Reported salmonella cases connected to a recent local church barbecue fundraiser have tripled, according to health officials. At least 28 people have reported getting sick after eating at the Sandy Plains Baptist Church barbecue fundraiser Sept. 7, according to the Cleveland County Health Department. The health department first reported nine illnesses Tuesday.

Among the updated case number, 18 are in Cleveland County and 10 in Rutherford County. Ten cases have been confirmed and 18 are probable, according to a Cleveland County Health Department press release Wednesday evening.

“Many of the cases are elderly people who are up to 80 years old,” County health department director Dorothea Wyant told Star news partner WSOC-TV on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, an 8-year-old child was among those reported ill, Wyant said. Food served at the Sept. 7 fundraiser included barbecue pork, chicken, french fries, coleslaw, pickles, hush puppies, buns, cakes, ice tea and coffee.

The event attracts at least 5,000 people and has been held for at least 50 years, Sandy Plains Baptist Church Pastor Garin Hill said Tuesday.

“We still do not know what particular food caused the illness,” DeShay Oliver, coordinator of health services for the health department, said in an e-mail. “We are working with the state to develop questionnaires to interview both cases as well as controls to help us determine if there is a common link to any particular food.”

Jessica Pickens is a reporter for The (Shelby) Star.

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Reported salmonella cases connected to a recent local church barbecue fundraiser have tripled, according to health officials. At least 28 people have reported getting sick after eating at the Sandy Plains Baptist Church barbecue fundraiser Sept. 7, according to the Cleveland County Health Department. The health department first reported nine illnesses Tuesday.

Among the updated case number, 18 are in Cleveland County and 10 in Rutherford County. Ten cases have been confirmed and 18 are probable, according to a Cleveland County Health Department press release Wednesday evening.

“Many of the cases are elderly people who are up to 80 years old,” County health department director Dorothea Wyant told Star news partner WSOC-TV on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, an 8-year-old child was among those reported ill, Wyant said. Food served at the Sept. 7 fundraiser included barbecue pork, chicken, french fries, coleslaw, pickles, hush puppies, buns, cakes, ice tea and coffee.

The event attracts at least 5,000 people and has been held for at least 50 years, Sandy Plains Baptist Church Pastor Garin Hill said Tuesday.

“We still do not know what particular food caused the illness,” DeShay Oliver, coordinator of health services for the health department, said in an e-mail. “We are working with the state to develop questionnaires to interview both cases as well as controls to help us determine if there is a common link to any particular food.”